Having invested in superb image technology the next thing to decide upon is acoustics.

Surround sound is one of the most exciting parts of any system particularly Home Cinemas and today it’s possible to use the same digital soundtracks as leading movie theatres.

Surround systems usually employ 5  main channels of sound and therefore require 5 loudspeakers specifically located around the room with a single speaker located above or below the screen as the primary speech channel. A further channel is optionally reserved for a powerful base device known as a sub-woofer which generates very deep bass tones.

The Sub-Woofers are relatively large Units but make a massive difference when watching action movies. Because it can be hard to identify where deep bass sound is coming from, the actual positioning of this unit is not as important as the primary speakers.

Since most movies use 5 main sound channels and one for the bass or sub-woofer they’re said to have 5.1 soundtracks as in Dolby Digital 5.1 which is the standard on virtually every DVD movie and even on some sky broadcasts.

The latest Dolby system, SurroundEX uses 7.1 channels and will require you to swap the speakers in the rear corners of your room for two at the side and two on the back wall giving you a total of seven.

This can sound amazing in larger rooms.

Red Carpet offers a wide range of speaker systems from world class award winning manufacturers including Q acoustics and Audica for stand alone systems and Sonance for built in custom designs.